Supplemental table top



Oct. 10, 1939. A. Rui-n..

l SUPPLEMENTAL TABLE TOP Filed July 25, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 .23 if ZZ( rh ur Ruh Z INVENTOR Oct. 10, 1939. A. RUHL SUPPLEMENTAL TABLE TOP Filed July 23, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'llfgagfffffll/ R o T N E v m A ORNEY Patented Oct. 10, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,175,572 ,SUPPLEMENTAL TABLE TOP Arthur Ruhl, New York, N. Y.

Application July 23, 1938, Serial No. 220,879

5 Claims.

provide a foldable out departing from the spirit thereof.

For a better understanding of the invention reference may be had tothe accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 shows a partial View of the enlargeable table top placed on the surface of a conventional table, and the gripping means therefor.

Fig. 2 is a side View of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top View of one of the gripping means in its inoperative position.

Fig. 4 is a side view, partially shown in section, taken on lines A-A of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a partial view of the folded showing the table gripping means in its operative position.

Fig. 6 is an end view of the folded table top showing its substantially parallel surfaces.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view, somewhat similar to Fig. 3, partly broken away to more clearly indicate the construction of the locking and releasing means,

table top fully in- Fig. 8 is a modification of the locking and releasing means.

a modiiication partly broken away to show construction of the slidable gripping means.

Fig. 11 is an Fig. 10.

end View taken on lines C-C of card table. sides of an enlargeable table top which 1s secured to the card table l2 for the purpose of creating a greater table area to permit a larger number as a gripping means, and it is understood that the term gripping means also embraces the releasing means used in conjunction with the gripping means.

For the purpose of clarity, the gripping and locking means in conjunction with its housing will hereinafter be referred to as a lock. It will, therefore, be understood that the parts I4, I5, I6, and I1 are the four locks which hold the enlargeable table top in fixed relation to the table I2.

In all of the views of the gripping means it will be noted that a releasing means is associated therewith so that by simply pressing a button, a lever arrangement will permit the gripping means per se to be restored to normal.

Fig. 4 is a side view partially shown in section of Fig. 3, for the purpose of showing the positions of various working parts. Part 2l is a housing which has openings 22 and 22' through which slides the gripping lever 23. A releasing lever 24 slides in holes 25 and 25'. An angular or L-shaped member 26 has holes therein to permit the rods 23 and 24 to slide therethrough. A spring 21 impinges the inner wall 28 and one surface of the I -shaped Vlever 26. A spring 29 impinges one surface of the wall 36 and a washer 3| which washer engages a stop pin 32. A nut 33 or any other suitable means is secured to one end of the shaft 23 to prevent the action of spring 29 from pulling the shaft 23 out of its hole or journal 22.

An inclined edge gripping surface 34 is a continuation of the shaft 23. The inclined edge 34 actually engages the underneath side of the beading I9 of the table and frictionally holds the enlargeable table top in a Xed position in relation to the table proper.

For a more detailed description of the parts, reference may be had to Fig. 7 wherein like parts are numbered similar to those already mentioned in Figs. 3 and 4. The shaft 24, which is referred to as a releasing shaft, has a button 35 which is pressed to release the gripping means. In operation, the lock I5, as shown in Fig. '7, is secured to the underneath side of the foldable table top by using a screw such as 36 which goes through the hole 31 to secure the housing 2|.

The foldable table top is placed on top of the table proper I2 and is approximately positioned centrally thereon. The spacers 38 are secured to the underneath side of the foldable table top and hold said foldable table top per se spaced from the table top proper I2. After the enlargeable table top is properly positioned on the conventional table I2, the individual gripping shafts 23 are urged inwardly until the inclined edge engages the beading I9 of the table. In so doing, it will be noticed by reference to Fig. '1 that the shaft 23 compresses its spring 29. As soon as the inward movement of the shaft 23 is stopped, the L-shaped lever 26, which has a hole 39, is urged in a position to grip the shaft 23 as shown in section. The lever 26 shown in dash-dot lines 4D indicates the approximate position of the lever 26 at any instant when it is being moved inwardly and the solid lines of the lever 26 are shown after the inward movement is no longer present and the action of the spring 21 urges the lever 26 so that the edges of the hole 39 impinge and frictionally engage the shaft 23 to securely hold it in substantially the position at which it it engaged the bead I9 of the table I2. One end of the L-shaped lever 4I, it will be noted, rides on the surface 42 of the housing 2I. The lever 26, therefore, is free to move on the shafts 23 and 24 dependent on the action of the spring 21 and the bearing of the lever edge 4I against the surface 42. It will further be noted that a second hole in the lever 26 is shown as 42. This hole permits the release rod 24 to slide therethrough. When it is desirous to release the shaft 23 so that the inclined edge 34 no longer engages the beading I2, it is merely necessary to press which is attached to the shaft 24. The pressure 35 moves the shaft inwardly so that the pin 43 carried on the shaft 24 will engage the lever 26 and move one end of the lever so that the edges of the hole 39 will no longer grip the shaft 23. inwardly will bring the lever 26 from the position shown solid to the position shown dotted at 49. The inward movement of the shaft 24 naturally compresses the spring 21 so that when the pressure is removed from the button 35 the lever 26 is again moved so that the edges of the hole 39 contact the shaft 23. While there is no derinite measurement given as to the size of the hole 39 in relation to the shaft 23, it is to be understood that the hole will be sufficient to permit a proper working of the shaft 23 therethrough and the gripping thereof under the action of the spring 21,

While shaft 24 is shown solid in action with its push button 35 and pin 43, it is pointed out that the dotted lines of the shaft pin and push button correspond with the dash-dot line 46 of the lever 26. The dotted line of the parts 25, 26, 43 and 35 show the position of these respective members when the shaft 24 is actuated to release the shaft 23 and the ultimate gripping of the table I2 by the inclined edge 34.

The operation immediately set forth above is for one lock, and it is to be understood that the remaining locks I4, I6, and I1 would operate in a similar manner to that already expressed .immediately above.

A modification of the lock, such as I5, is set forth in Fig. 8. The purpose of this modification is to indicate that the invention is not necessarily limited to the particular arrangement of parts such as the springs and the lever 26. It is to be understood that any equivalent parts which may operate properly and efficiently to produce the desired result, may be utilized in this invention. This is shown in Fig. 8 wherein a housing 44 has a shaft 45 and an inclined edge 46. The inclined edge is shown in this View to be turned into its inoperative position, that is, in a position when it is resting parallel with the underneath side of the table top. A lever 41 is pivotally secured by a screw 48 or other means to the housing 44. Referring to Fig. 9, this lever 41 has holes 49 and 59 which engage the shaft 45 and the releasing shaft 5I. Pins 52 and 53 are used as limiting means on shafts 45 and 5I, respectively. A washer 54 and pin 55 have similar functions as washer 3| and pin 32 shown in Fig. 7. In this View, when the shaft 45 is moved inwardly, 56 is compressed so that when the shaft 45 is released, the edges of the hole 49 will grip the shaft 45 to prevent it from being moved outwardly under the action of spring 51. Similar to the operation of shaft 24, the shaft 5I in Fig. 8 when urged inwardly will cause the pin 58 to engage the lever 41 which is moved to compress the spring 56 and remove the edges of the hole 41 from frictional engagement with the shaft 45 which permits the shaft 45 to be released and Figs. l0 and l1. The purpose of this modification is to show that the shafts 23 and 45 in Figs. 1 and 8, respectively, need not necessarily be round rest substantially in parallel posltion to the underneath side of the foldable table topi.

position so that the strips 63 and 63 which receive the hinges are parallel. Further, the parts are shown to be subshown and described, the invention is not confined thereto as changes and alterations may be and may become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit thereof as` defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States isl. An auxiliary table topadapted to engage a conventional table top, a plurality of locks on the auxiliary tab-le top for securely holding said auxiliary table top in substantially fixed' position in relation to said conventional table, each of said locks comprising a housing, a shaft slidably mounted in said housing, an inclined gripping member secured to said shaft, locking means for gripping said shaft and automaticaly holding it in an operative position, and automatic means for simultaneously releasing said locking means and restoring said gripping member toI an inoperative position. i

2. An auxiliary table a conventional table top,

top adapted to engage a plurality of locks for each of said locks comprising a housing, a

bly mounted in said housing, an intwo movable shafts independently operable in relation one to the other supported by sa-d housing, a locking lever hava normally inoperative position after the locking lever has been released.

4. A supplemental table top to be used in conjunction with a conventional table, said supplemental top having in combination a plurality of beyond said framework and shaped to securely engage the conventional table when the shaft member is moved inwardly, a locking lever to hold the shaft member in its operative position, a release shaft, and resilient means to move said elongated shaft into its inoperative position after the release shaft is urged against the locking lever.

the conventional table top,

a, framework adapted to receive a member in operative position after being moved inwardly, and means to automatically move the ARTHUR RUHL. 

